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October 06, 2012

Council of Royal Governors at Carlyle House, April 1755

Transcribing of the markers
continues. The other day I took on
“The Beast,” the wording for the stone tablet at Market Square. Small print, 392 words!

No complaints, however, as this is
one of my favorite markers. It penetrates
deep into some of the city’s richest history.

These are the moments that reward the
tedious task. If I don’t
sell one book, I will still always have these digs of ore. The sidetrack does extend the process, but sometimes I can’t
turn away from their siren song.

I can’t try and vet every marker, but
when the history is significant, it’s important to learn more. In this case, the historic event
was the Council of Royal Governors, taking place at the Carlyle House in April
1755.

From the marker:

The
Carlyle House in Fairfax Street was the headquarters of Gen Braddock during the
French and Indian War, and was the scene of the Council of Royal Governors
Dinwiddie of Virginia, Shirley of Massachusetts, Delancy of New York, Morris of
Pennsylvania and Sharp of Maryland, at which the first suggestion was made by
British officials in council, of taxing the American Colonies.

Just six years prior, Alexandria had
been founded downstream from the fall line of the Potomac and where the Federal City of Washington would rise forty years
later. The lots were laid out and sold on Cameron Street, just steps
from where John Carlyle would build the most handsome manor for miles and
miles.

In those early days, tobacco warehousing,
inspecting, loading and shipping was job one for Alexandria. When France challenged England’s claims
to the riches in and near the Ohio Valley, Carlyle and the town leaders teamed
with the mother country. To that end, His Majesty King George II
sent General Edward Braddock to the colonies to expel the French from their
fortifications at places like Fort Duquesne. He arrived in Alexandria in early April 1755
and made his Headquarters at Carlyle’s Georgian-style home.

Joining him on April 14 and 15 were the
five colonial Governors, representing Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia.
Something like 1,200 British soldiers and 800 militia mostly from
Virginia bivouacked on the outskirts of town. In the warmer mansion, Braddock informed the
Governors the need of a “Common Defense” fund to supplement the monies England
would provide for materiel and manpower. They said no.

Was this the first time the British
raised the idea of taxing the Colonies?

We’ll probably never know. But the civic pride still
prevails in Alexandria.

In his book on Carlyle, James Munson
writes,

More important than anything coming out
of the Carlyle House Council was the fact of the gathering itself. It was the first of its kind in America.

Sources:

"The Carlyle House and its Associations," Richard Henry Spencer, William and Mary Quarterly Historical Magazine, July
1909, via JSOR

"Col. John Carlyle, Gent., A True and
Just Account of the Man and His House," James D. Munson, Northern Virginia
Regional Park Authority, 1986.